Australian No.1 Alex de Minaur races into the third round of a Roland Garros men’s singles draw for the first time.

Paris, France, 31 May 2024 | Leigh Rogers

Alex de Minaur has notched another impressive first in his career-best season.

The 25-year-old Australian is enjoying his deepest run at Roland Garros, securing his spot in the third round of the men’s singles competition with a 7-5 6-1 6-4 victory in Paris today against Spaniard Jaume Munar.

This marks the first time that world No.11 De Minaur has progressed beyond the second round in eight main-draw appearances at the clay-court Grand Slam tournament.

“It feels great,” De Minaur said of his “minor milestone”.

“I thought there’s no reason why I can’t do it, so it’s just good to finally be able to be in the third round.”

De Minaur produced a clean performance, finishing the match with more winners and less unforced errors than world No.64 Munar. He also navigated multiple rain delays before closing out victory in two hours and 11 minutes.

“I was being aggressive and taking it to him,” De Minaur said. “He’s a very good clay-courter, moves very well, extends a lot of rallies … Today was just a tough day with the rain, the stops and starts, and everything.”

With this effort, De Minaur becomes just the fifth Australian man to advance to the third round at Roland Garros in the past 15 years.

This is the 13th time in total that De Minaur has reached the third round at a major tournament – but only the second time he has managed to do so without conceding a set, matching his swift progression at Australian Open 2021.

De Minaur’s next opponent is German Jan-Lennard Struff, who knocked out world No.17 Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan in the second round.

The top-ranked Australian leads their head-to-head record with three wins from five matches, which includes a straight-sets victory at Miami earlier this season.

World No.41 Struff did, however, win their only previous meeting on clay, which was at Monte Carlo last season.

De Minaur has vowed he is ready to “keep on going”.

“Ultimately my goal is not to make the third round, it’s to go for bigger and better things,” he said.

Thanasi Kokkinakis has also advanced to the third round in Paris, after staging a remarkable comeback to beat Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri in five sets.

The 28-year-old Australian clawed back from a two-set deficit for just the third time in his career and for the first time in nine years.

> READ: Kokkinakis through in five in another Roland Garros epic

Aussies in action – Roland Garros

RESULTS
Men’s singles, second round
[11] Alex de Minaur (AUS) d Jaume Munar (ESP) 7-5 6-1 6-4
Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) d [Q] Giulio Zeppieri (ITA) 1-6 4-6 6-3 7-6(5) 6-2

COMING UP
Men’s singles, third round
[11] Alex de Minaur (AUS) v Jan-Lennard Struff (GER)
Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) v [12] Taylor Fritz (USA)

> VIEW: Roland Garros 2024 men’s singles draw

Women’s doubles, first round
[2] Ellen Perez (AUS)/Nicole Melichar-Martinez (USA) v Ingrid Gamarra Martins (BRA)/Olivia Nicholls (GBR)
Daria Saville (AUS)/Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS) v [16] Miyu Kato (JPN)/Nadiia Kichenok (UKR)

> VIEW: Roland Garros 2024 women’s doubles draw

Men’s doubles, first round
[2] Matt Ebden (AUS)/Rohan Bopanna (IND) v [Alt] Sumit Nagal (IND)/Sebastian Ofner (AUT)
Max Purcell (AUS)/Jordan Thompson (AUS) v Tallon Griekspoor (NED)/Bart Stevens (NED)
John-Patrick Smith (AUS)/Denys Molchanov (UKR) v Petros Tsitsipas (GRE)/Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE)
Rinky Hijikata (AUS)/Guido Andreozzi (ARG) v Nicolas Barrientos (COL)/Francisco Cabral (POR)
John Peers (AUS)/Roman Safiullin v Yuki Bhambri (IND)/Albano Olivetti (FRA)
Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS)/Denis Shapovalov (CAN) v [14] Nathaniel Lammons (USA)/Jackson Withrow (USA)

> VIEW: Roland Garros 2024 men’s doubles draw

Mixed doubles, first round
[1] Ellen Perez (AUS)/Matt Ebden (AUS) v [WC] Tessah Andrianjafitrimo (FRA)/Ugo Humbert (FRA)
Nicole Melichar-Martinez (USA)/John Peers (AUS) v [5] Vera Zvonareva/Sander Gille (BEL)

> VIEW: Roland Garros 2024 mixed doubles draw

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